What speaking ability does a score of IELTS Band 6 represent?

Watch this Speaking test sample, where Xin from China talks about 'Famous people'. Here's why this performance was given a Band 6:

This candidate is able to give extended responses. He uses a range of markers (you mean; you know; it’s really a hard question; in this way) and other cohesive features, such as referencing, but he uses only a narrow range of linking words (so; because). He repeats himself quite a lot and self-corrects, but coherence is only occasionally threatened.

He has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and his ideas and opinions are quite clearly conveyed (change the world; focus on the real things; use reputation to gain a lot of profit). Vocabulary is sometimes inappropriate but meaning can be worked out from the context (have a silence instead of ‘have privacy’; signature instead of ‘autograph’; act well instead of ‘behave well’).

He produces a mix of simple and complex structures though his attempts at longer, more complex sentence forms tend to contain errors. Mistakes in verb tenses, subject/verb agreement and prepositions are quite frequent, but these do not impede communication.

His pronunciation is generally clear and there is some effective use of stress and intonation. However, his speech is mainly syllable-timed, so his rhythm is rather mechanical. Some words are mispronounced (uerally for ‘usually’) or are wrongly stressed (profit). This reduces clarity at times, but understanding generally requires little effort.

雅思6分的成绩代表了什么口语能力？

请看这篇口语测试范文，来自中国的xin谈的是名人。这就是为什么这个表现能得到6分的原因。

这位考生能够给出扩展的回答。他使用了一系列标记词(you mean; you know; it's really a hard question; in this way)和其他凝聚性特征，如引用，但他只使用了范围狭窄的连接词(so; because)。他重复的次数相当多，并且自我修正，但连贯性只是偶尔受到威胁。

他的词汇量足够宽广，可以长篇大论地讨论话题，他的想法和观点也能相当清晰地表达出来（改变世界；专注于真正的事情；利用名誉获得大量的利润）。词汇有时不恰当，但意思可以从上下文中找出（用沉默代替 有隐私；用签名代替 签名；用行为良好代替 行为良好）。

虽然他尝试使用较长、较复杂的句子形式，但他的句子结构既有简单的，也有复杂的。动词时态、主语/动词搭配和介词方面的错误相当频繁，但这些并不妨碍交流。

他的发音一般都很清晰，重音和语调的使用也很有效。但是，他的语音主要是音节定时，所以他的节奏比较机械。有些单词发音错误（通常 的 uberally）或强调错误（profit）。这有时会降低清晰度，但一般来说，理解起来并不费力。